Nature
Photography
#animals
#contests
January 30, 2024
Grace Ebert
![two Nubian ibex with long curled horns prepare for a fight on the side of a cliff](https://www.thisiscolossal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/wildlife-8.jpg)
Amit Eshel, “Life on the edge,” Israel. All images © the artists, courtesy of the Natural History Museum, shared with permission
From the cliffs of the Zin Desert to the shallow waters of South Africa’s Kosi Bay, the 2023 Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest traverses the globe documenting the most striking moments of life on Earth. Laurent Ballesta, whose luminous underwater images we’ve featured previously, won the competition for the second time. Titled “The golden horseshoe,” the photo peers in on a tri-spine horseshoe crab crawling over the mud with a trio of small golden trevallies trailing behind with the hope that the crab will rustle up some food as it moves.
In its 59th year, the contest garnered nearly 50,000 entries from 95 countries. The winning photos— which include an electrifying shot of fireflies from Sriram Murali and Fernando Constantino Martínez Belmar’s devastating documentation of deforestation in Mexico—are on view through June 30 at the Natural History Museum in London.
![a backlit mushroom that's releasing wisps of spores into the air](https://www.thisiscolossal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/wildlife-9.jpg)
Agorastos Papatsanis, “Last breath of autumn,” Greece
![A tri-spine horseshoe crab moves slowly over the mud. Its golden protective carapace hides 12 appendages. Above the horseshoe crab, a trio of juvenile golden trevallies are poised to dart down for edible morsels ploughed up by its passage.](https://www.thisiscolossal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/wildlife-1.jpg)
Laurent Ballesta, “The ancient mariner,” France
![green light illuminates a lush green landscape](https://www.thisiscolossal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/wildlife-2.jpg)
Sriram Murali, “Lights fantastic,” India
![a black and white photo of a gannet pair against streaked sandstone cliffs](https://www.thisiscolossal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/wildlife-3.jpg)
Rachel Bigsby, “The art of courtship,” U.K.
![two hippos huddle together on the ocean floor](https://www.thisiscolossal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/wildlife-4.jpg)
Mike Korostelev, “Hippo nursery,” Russia
![four birds wait in a row in a forest with another perched on a tree root as a boa constrictor slithers by in the background](https://www.thisiscolossal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/wildlife-5.jpg)
Hadrien Lalagüe, “Silence for the snake show,” France
![a line a downed trees miles long cuts through an otherwise lush green forest](https://www.thisiscolossal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/wildlife-6.jpg)
Fernando Constantino Martínez Belmar, “The tourism bulldozer,” Mexico
![three whales swim up to a seal stranded on an ice floe](https://www.thisiscolossal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/wildlife-7.jpg)
Bertie Gregory, “Whales making waves,” U.K.
#animals
#contests
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